Latest Intel Processor Technology
09.07.08 (9:25 am) [edit]
Abundance of business models based on IntelCs new mobility platform with comprehensive connectivity via Embedded Mobile Broadband (3G/UMTS)
Underlining its commitment to technological leadership, Fujitsu Siemens Computers is launching a series of business notebooks based on the new Centrino2® processor technology from Intel® – on the same day that the technology is introduced. And further notebook models in the pipeline featuring the new technology include a smart tablet PC for beginners and students as well as a series of ultra-mobile premium models. The new models are available from the beginning of August and, thanks to the new Intel® 45 chipset, provide more performance.
"As an innovation leader in this segment, Fujitsu Siemens Computers has integrated IntelCs latest technology into new products right from the very outset. We are delighted to present the first business notebooks based on the new processor technology as early as the beginning of August, which underlines our leading market position and our very short product launch times", stated Andreas Thimmel, Senior Vice President Volume Business with Fujitsu Siemens Computers. "This launch is just the first step of a large offensive in the business model segment and we plan to surprise the market more than once this year.”
The new processor technology is not the only highlight that distinguishes the three notebook lines from Fujitsu Siemens Computers – the ESPRIMO Mobile V Series, the ESPRIMO Mobile Series and the LIFEBOOK Series. New models have a mass of exciting connectivity features, an area in which Fujitsu Siemens Computers has already established a leading market position. The new mobile business machines all ship optional Embedded Mobile Broadband (3G/UMTS) – from entry level up to the high-end ultra-portables. Secure, integrated HSDPA/HSUPA connectivity provides fast broadband access while on the move. This makes the use of interactive real-time services a reality, such as video conferencing, VoIP, data access and the fast exchange of large e-mail attachments via wireless networks, and provides business users with a competitive edge.
Underlining its commitment to technological leadership, Fujitsu Siemens Computers is launching a series of business notebooks based on the new Centrino2® processor technology from Intel® – on the same day that the technology is introduced. And further notebook models in the pipeline featuring the new technology include a smart tablet PC for beginners and students as well as a series of ultra-mobile premium models. The new models are available from the beginning of August and, thanks to the new Intel® 45 chipset, provide more performance.
"As an innovation leader in this segment, Fujitsu Siemens Computers has integrated IntelCs latest technology into new products right from the very outset. We are delighted to present the first business notebooks based on the new processor technology as early as the beginning of August, which underlines our leading market position and our very short product launch times", stated Andreas Thimmel, Senior Vice President Volume Business with Fujitsu Siemens Computers. "This launch is just the first step of a large offensive in the business model segment and we plan to surprise the market more than once this year.”
The new processor technology is not the only highlight that distinguishes the three notebook lines from Fujitsu Siemens Computers – the ESPRIMO Mobile V Series, the ESPRIMO Mobile Series and the LIFEBOOK Series. New models have a mass of exciting connectivity features, an area in which Fujitsu Siemens Computers has already established a leading market position. The new mobile business machines all ship optional Embedded Mobile Broadband (3G/UMTS) – from entry level up to the high-end ultra-portables. Secure, integrated HSDPA/HSUPA connectivity provides fast broadband access while on the move. This makes the use of interactive real-time services a reality, such as video conferencing, VoIP, data access and the fast exchange of large e-mail attachments via wireless networks, and provides business users with a competitive edge.
Custom Intel Laptop
09.07.08 (9:17 am) [edit]
Perfectly suited for mobile gamers both in terms of size/weight and power this poweful custom laptop comes with the new Core 2 Duo processor and with powerful nVIDIA 9800M GT 512MB video subsystem. Other specs include desktop speed-grade hard drive and up to 4GB of DDR3 RAM. This completely customizable desktop replacer will outrun many of our advanced desktop machines. The laptop comes with such vital built-in features like 2MP Video Camera, Wireless Lan, Ethernet and Bluetooth. Note that our default configuration already includes a powerful nVIDIA GeForce 9800M GT Video Card and 2 GB of DDR3 RAM. Look at our custom options to possibly upgrade the processor, hard drives or RAM.
Intel's Laptop Flap
09.07.08 (9:13 am) [edit]
What started as an awesome humanitarian idea has turned into a soap opera starring a driven scientist and the world's biggest chip maker.
In the latest episode, Intel (nasdaq: INTC - news - people ) on Thursday quit the One Laptop Per Child project, which provides low-cost laptops to the world's poorest children. The chip giant said it couldn't abide by OLPC founder Nicholas Negroponte's demand that it discontinue making a similar laptop and argues that there's plenty of room in the marketplace for different brands.
"We've long held the belief that there's not a single solution to the needs of children in underdeveloped markets and emerging economies," says Intel spokesman Chuck Mulloy.
Negroponte, who formerly headed up the Media Lab at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, agrees, but says Intel is thwarting sales of OLPC's XO laptop by selling a similar product, Classmate, in the same markets. "We feel that the more competition there is, the more laptops out there, the better," Negroponte told Forbes.com. "But we don't want one of own partners competing with us, and trying to unravel agreements we've made with countries. Nobody's trying to stop competition. But when you're partners, you don't try to compete with your partner."
Intel donated $6 million to OLPC and was expected to provide another $6 million next week. That's not going to happen now. In addition to losing funding, Negroponte says Intel also provided technical support to OLPC. Overall, he says, "we're losing the whole notion of getting everyone in your camp. As a humanitarian project, you want everyone in your camp, and we're disappointed from that point of view. But it was such a distraction that we're honestly relieved" that Intel is out of the picture now.
Intel and Negroponte had argued for more than a year about Classmate before the chip maker decided to join OLPC last July in an apparent effort to mend relations. In November, however, Negroponte blamed Intel for sluggish sales of XO laptops and demanded that the company stop selling Classmate. But news reports suggest that Intel isn't the only culprit. The cost of the XO is $188, about $88 more than originally expected. Worse, some leaders in developing countries say the XO is inferior to the Classmate mainly because the XO doesn't run the Windows operating system.
Industry observers say the feud between Intel and Negopronte has been childish. "They're back to squabbling again, and they probably both need to be spanked." says Gordon Haff, principal IT adviser at tech research firm Illuminata. "There's certainly been a lot more sniping and nastiness from both sides than absolutely necessary."
Crawford Del Prete, a senior vice president at tech research firm IDC, says the Intel-Negroponte fight signals that the market for low-cost computers is heating up. "It speaks to the emergence of a new segment," Del Prete says. "What's surprising is this is a category that has been pooh-poohed ... and it was a place where you dumped old technology, where you tried all kinds of experiments. If this does nothing more, it legitimizes the category and people are going to really try to focus on on in a different way than they have in the past."
OLPC's XO laptops currently run on chips from Intel competitor Advanced Micro Devices (nyse: ADM - news - people ). But Intel has been working on chips for the XO and had planned to unveil an Intel-powered OLPC laptop at the Consumer Electronics Show next week in Las Vegas.
Intel Prepares a Quad-Core Notebook Chip
09.03.08 (5:10 am) [edit]
Stanford president John Hennessy calls parallel programming for multicore processors the biggest challenge computer science has faced in more than 50 years. But that's not stopping Intel from moving ahead with plans to bring even greater core counts to your laptop.
According to trade-media reports, Intel is readying a new breed of quad-core mobile processors for release this fall, marking what could be the first concerted effort by the chip giant to aim its high-end multicore processors at the general mobile market.
Just don't expect quad-core laptops to become an industry standard anytime soon. As DigiTimes notes, these chips won't come cheap, and will also suck down significantly more power than today's mainstream mobile Core 2 Duo processors -- a big no-no in the mobile space.
Intel has previously stated its intention to release quad-core notebook processors, but the company would not confirm the details reported by DigiTimes.
"I've always used the adage, the hardware is ahead of the software is ahead of the user," says Roger Kay, president of Endpoint Technologies Associates, who says that quad-core processors in notebooks will not be suitable for mainstream consumers for quite some time.
"I can imagine a small niche [of adopters] on the notebook side, but I still think it's going to be three to four years before [quad-core laptops] become mainstream," he says.
In addition to high prices and power constraints, there's still a dearth of software (and programmers) that can properly take advantage of four processing cores, a fact that will make selling multicore laptops an even harder prospect for Intel in the near term.
Nevertheless, IDC analyst Bob O'Donnell says the decision to relocate quad-core from the desktop to the laptop may actually make sense when you look at future industry trends.
"If you look at where the market is going, we have notebooks sales surpassing desktops on a worldwide scale in 2009," says O'Donnell. "Notebooks are clearly the platform of the future; hence all the movement by Intel and others into the mobile space recently."
In the not-too-distant future, O'Donnell also says that notebooks may even become the platform of choice for which chipmakers will develop new technologies, platforms and, yes, even new multicore processors.
For its own part, Intel seems to be well aware of the challenges it and the rest of the industry face in creating software that can take full advantage of multicore chip technology.
Intel and Microsoft are expected to announce a partnership on Tuesday with the University of California-Berkeley and other universities. The venture will see both companies funding new research into parallel programming techniques.
"Given the many attempts at salting parallel computing in the industry over 40 years, there have only been relatively modest successes to date," says David Patterson, a professor of computer science at Berkeley.
Because the entire industry is now betting on multicore processors, it's also realizing that unless the software community catches up, there remains no compelling reason for consumers to buy 4-, 8- or any other multicore processor.
As Jerry Bautista, director of technology management for Intel's Microprocessor Technology Lab, puts it: "It's not the hardware that's really compelling. It's what you can do with the hardware that really is the interesting stuff."
According to trade-media reports, Intel is readying a new breed of quad-core mobile processors for release this fall, marking what could be the first concerted effort by the chip giant to aim its high-end multicore processors at the general mobile market.
Just don't expect quad-core laptops to become an industry standard anytime soon. As DigiTimes notes, these chips won't come cheap, and will also suck down significantly more power than today's mainstream mobile Core 2 Duo processors -- a big no-no in the mobile space.
Intel has previously stated its intention to release quad-core notebook processors, but the company would not confirm the details reported by DigiTimes.
"I've always used the adage, the hardware is ahead of the software is ahead of the user," says Roger Kay, president of Endpoint Technologies Associates, who says that quad-core processors in notebooks will not be suitable for mainstream consumers for quite some time.
"I can imagine a small niche [of adopters] on the notebook side, but I still think it's going to be three to four years before [quad-core laptops] become mainstream," he says.
In addition to high prices and power constraints, there's still a dearth of software (and programmers) that can properly take advantage of four processing cores, a fact that will make selling multicore laptops an even harder prospect for Intel in the near term.
Nevertheless, IDC analyst Bob O'Donnell says the decision to relocate quad-core from the desktop to the laptop may actually make sense when you look at future industry trends.
"If you look at where the market is going, we have notebooks sales surpassing desktops on a worldwide scale in 2009," says O'Donnell. "Notebooks are clearly the platform of the future; hence all the movement by Intel and others into the mobile space recently."
In the not-too-distant future, O'Donnell also says that notebooks may even become the platform of choice for which chipmakers will develop new technologies, platforms and, yes, even new multicore processors.
For its own part, Intel seems to be well aware of the challenges it and the rest of the industry face in creating software that can take full advantage of multicore chip technology.
Intel and Microsoft are expected to announce a partnership on Tuesday with the University of California-Berkeley and other universities. The venture will see both companies funding new research into parallel programming techniques.
"Given the many attempts at salting parallel computing in the industry over 40 years, there have only been relatively modest successes to date," says David Patterson, a professor of computer science at Berkeley.
Because the entire industry is now betting on multicore processors, it's also realizing that unless the software community catches up, there remains no compelling reason for consumers to buy 4-, 8- or any other multicore processor.
As Jerry Bautista, director of technology management for Intel's Microprocessor Technology Lab, puts it: "It's not the hardware that's really compelling. It's what you can do with the hardware that really is the interesting stuff."
